Netting the lowdown on shopping websites

Irish consumers buying goods online can now check how reliable a particular shopping website is with the help of a new ‘oniine shopping assistant' from the European Consumer Centre.

The consumer simply enters the name of the website into ‘Howard', the new search tool available at www.eccdublin.ie. Howard will then trawl the internet to find out key information including what consumers think of the site, whether it's a member of the TrustMark scheme for internationally accredited sites, and what rights the customer has to return goods if unhappy with them on delivery.